The Fairgrounds</p>
<p>Can deep-fried dough covered in sugar be good for you?</p>
<p>Of course not.</p>
<p>According to one news organization, that elephant ear is a whopping 1,080 calories and 65 grams of fat.</p>
<p>And that's only one treat from the fair.</p>
<p>The smell of food lingers in nearly every corner of the fairgrounds, no matter how far you are from the cluster of vendors packed in the Van Zee Food Circus. </p>
<p>So what's a health-conscious, dieting fairgoer to do?</p>
<p>First off, there just aren't that many people at a fair with healthy eating in mind. Several vendors who were asked Wednesday had no idea how many calories were in their products and had not been asked in recent memory.</p>
<p>"Most people that come to the fair aren't concerned about that," said Dion Ray of Rocco's Flying Wraparia, though he did point out the lean cuts of beef used in his wrap.</p>
<p>Among the deep fried confections, gooey concoctions and sauce-slathered ribs, there are a few guilt-free or less-guilt items. Roasted corn on the cob comes two for $5, and you can't get healthier than veggies.</p>
<p>Then there are the simple choices an eater can make, such as picking fewer fried things, grilled chicken over beef or beef over pork.</p>
<p>One stand even offers buffalo burgers, which have the same calories as a beef hamburger, but less than half the fat.</p>
<p>In addition, people can use some of these strategies offered by Lola O'Rourke, a registered dietician from Bainbridge Island and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association:</p>
<p>Share your food. You get to have a taste, but you don't have to take in all the calories.</p>
<p>Drink water instead of soda. "It's not special, but soda really adds a lot of calories," O'Rourke said.</p>
<p>Budget your calories. Realize that you're going to eat a couple hundred (or more) calories extra on fair day, and cut down on your intake the days before and after.</p>
<p>Walk a lot. There's a lot to see at the fair.</p>
<p>And remember, some cheating on one or two days doesn't mean the end of your healthful eating. "I think it's really important for people to realize if they're trying to lose weight, they didn't gain all that in a day," she said.</p>
<p>There are times like the fair when people are going to have more "occasional" foods than they normally would, O'Rourke said.</p>
<p>"A lot of these foods are the treat foods that the people don't want to be eating on an everyday basis but it's OK to have them every now and again," she said.</p>
<p>Just ask Gil and Elaine Gilman of Kingston who sat down Wednesday with a big Bucket Burger sitting between them. The burger is made with a 13 pound sirloin patty and piled about 8 inches high with Canadian bacon, mushrooms, grilled onions, cheese, lettuce and tomato.</p>
<p>"This is part of the fair," Gil Gilman said.</p>
<p>"It's a special occasion," Elaine added. In addition to being the first day of the fair, Wednesday was also Gil's birthday.</p>
<p>"You gotta do it, you gotta have fun," Gil said. "You walk through that gate, the odors are wafting up and you gotta get ready to eat."<